PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC- Coach Dasrath Maharaj has described the Trinidad and Tobago team as ‘motivated’ and ‘hungry’ on the eve of the regional Under-19 three-day and limited overs championships.
The championship bowls off in Guyana today with T&T opening their three-day campaign against the Windward Islands at Enmore.
Maharaj says the young Trinidadians are well prepared and charged with their eyes on both trophies after missing out in previous years.
“They really want to do well in this tournament and they really want to win it,” said Maharaj.
“They have been playing on teams that placed lower down in the standings and they themselves are motivated to perform and have been putting in the work necessary to do well”.
The Jeremy Solozana-led team was due to leave Trinidad yesterday and coach Maharaj believes he has quality players who will deliver in the new format of the competition.
Normally the three-day format takes the form of a round-robin tournament with all sides playing each other.
But this year, the tournament will feature three rounds of three-day matches contested among the six regional teams, with the team accumulating the highest number of points being crowned champions.
“This is a team with a number of boys who have been on the Under-19 side for a couple of years now and they are very hungry” the coach explained.
In the other first round matches, the defending champions Jamaica will face long-standing rivals Barbados at Everest while hosts Guyana meet Leeward Islands at the Guyana National Stadium.
Jamaica captured the three-day title last year in St Kitts, when they finished on 47.9 points topping the points table ahead of T&T, Guyana, Windwards, Barbados and Leewards. They played unbeaten to also collect the One-day title, ahead of Windwards, T&T, Guyana, Barbados, ICC Americas and Leewards.
